lizzy_22's review
3.0
Gladstone definitely doesn't spoon feed you. Full of interesting imagery, just like the Craft Sequence novels, it's what is inferred rather than what is overtly stated that makes this so fascinating.
nathanaeljs's review
3.0
The plot of this story is simultaneously incredibly simple and strangely convoluted. The barest description would be that it is the story of a girl looking for her brother while a doomed rebellion rages around them. Accurate, but there's a lot more going on here.
Honestly, I nearly gave this story two stars instead of three. The only thing that saved it was that the writing really was quite lovely. I can see the city and the people and the rebellion, even if I don't understand them or why any of it was happening. A primary example of the confusion involved in the story's worldbuilding lies in the nature of the main character and her family.
Whether or not they actually are the messenger spirit warriors from the Abrahamic religions, I could not really say. It could be that or they might be fabulously advanced alien beings living outside of the temporal stream. Or maybe they're both at the same time. Is their society built on magic or technology? I'm not sure. Terms are dropped with little to no explanation of what they mean. Events are referenced but never expounded upon. The characterization is scanty. It's all rather frustrating.
Despite being frustrated with the story, I did enjoy it. It's baffling and maybe it was meant to be baffling. It certainly doesn't make me not want to read Gladstone's novels, which are sitting on my to read shelf at the moment. So consider this title cautiously recommended.
Honestly, I nearly gave this story two stars instead of three. The only thing that saved it was that the writing really was quite lovely. I can see the city and the people and the rebellion, even if I don't understand them or why any of it was happening. A primary example of the confusion involved in the story's worldbuilding lies in the nature of the main character and her family.
Whether or not they actually are the messenger spirit warriors from the Abrahamic religions, I could not really say. It could be that or they might be fabulously advanced alien beings living outside of the temporal stream. Or maybe they're both at the same time. Is their society built on magic or technology? I'm not sure. Terms are dropped with little to no explanation of what they mean. Events are referenced but never expounded upon. The characterization is scanty. It's all rather frustrating.
Despite being frustrated with the story, I did enjoy it. It's baffling and maybe it was meant to be baffling. It certainly doesn't make me not want to read Gladstone's novels, which are sitting on my to read shelf at the moment. So consider this title cautiously recommended.
keyreads's review
3.0
I felt like a lot was missing from this story. I would have enjoyed it more if it was longer.
shomarq's review
2.0
Sad, certainly, with beautiful imagery, but nothing here that was unexpected, new, or even exciting. Just Thea being desperate and sad.
speljamr's review against another edition
4.0
I would love to see a full novel set in this universe.
anaelwynn's review against another edition
3.0
As with all of Max Gladstone's short stories that I have read so far, The Angelus Guns was very interesting. The premise is unlike anything I have read before and I enjoyed finding out more about the world. I'm not sure how I feel about the conclusion, I felt like it ended way too abruptly. Still, I'm very happy to have read this story!
anuragsahay's review against another edition
3.0
This short story has an interesting premise (the notion that a race of aliens has grown to the point where it has separated itself from time, and oversees the rest of the species; the aliens thereby becoming some sort of angels), but a very uninteresting execution (it posits itself as a female angel trying to recover her brother who has gone to join a rebellious force which believes the angels are having a negative, rather than positive effect on the multiverse). Short enough for one read, though.
peterseanesq's review against another edition
2.0
My Amazon review -
http://www.amazon.com/review/RNWTN41IS4V2T/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
http://www.amazon.com/review/RNWTN41IS4V2T/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
keyreads's review against another edition
3.0
I felt like a lot was missing from this story. I would have enjoyed it more if it was longer.
mikhailrekun's review against another edition
4.0
Solid, and not really as confusing as people seem to think it is, but Max Gladstone can do much better.